People living with disabilities enjoy greater independence
Living independently gives people living with disabilities the power to dream. This was the case for Nofar Elkabets, a young woman from Haifa, Israel, who longed to build a life outside of an institution but due to a lack of support and services for her physical disability was unable to do so. In 2015 she took part in a program that helped her to secure an apartment, find a job, build community connections and set her own daily agenda. It was life changing. “Before I was closed off. Now I can contribute,” she says in the video linked below.
The program Nofar benefitted from was piloted by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) a 110-year-old non-profit organization that works to close social gaps for vulnerable and/or imperiled Jewish people all over the world, from isolated seniors to at-risk youth, to people living with disabilities and others.
In 2012, Israel Unlimited — the division of JDC’s operations in Israel focused on people with disabilities — responded to a need among the population it serves for social integration and autonomy. Ranging in age from 21 to 55 and with varying degrees of physical, cognitive or psychiatric disabilities, many have expressed a desire (as Nofar did) to live “just like everyone else.”
Through research and development, JDC developed and piloted its model for Supported Housing in partnership with the Israeli Government in a limited region of the country and then grew to operate it in 37 areas around the country with 80 people transitioning from institutions to the community. The program works through regular tailored home visits, counselling, and a tightly guided process to ensure a successful transition from institutional living, or living with family members, to independent living. This process starts with sourcing affordable housing and continues with teaching participants life skills such as how to maintain a home, create a budget, grocery shop, earn an income, and connect to their local community.
As a result of JDC’s work, over 400 people have successfully transitioned to independent living in cities around the country. The first-phase model of the program has been passed on to Israel’s government for continuance and scaling.
In 2020, the Azrieli Foundation engaged JDC – clear experts in their field – to implement the Foundation’s own project on the ground in Israel: The Expanded Supported Housing Program. Building on JDC’s initial model, the Azrieli Foundation’s expanded program focuses on participants with severe disabilities who require more interventions to live independently in the community.
Efrat Stern, Executive Director of JDC’s Israel Unlimited says, “The Expanded Supported Housing program is a life-transforming model, empowering people with severe disabilities with the basic ability to choose where and how to live. The Azrieli Foundation has expanded the program to the Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashdod areas.”
Stern and her team have seen first-hand how living independently opens a world of possibilities for participants, allowing them to think beyond housing to other areas of self-fulfillment such as starting careers, connecting with their community, and finding partners and spouses.
“The program takes the basic right of independent living one step further and shows that even in a situation of complex disability – with appropriate personal support – people can fulfill their dream and their right to live independently in the community. This is a program that, beyond creating a professional infrastructure, creates a new reality in Israel.”
Tamar Geva, Program Director of Expanded Supported Housing at JDC’s Israel Unlimited
Watch a short film on Nofar Elkabets below.
